The media paints a theatrical image of business ethics featuring big corporate executives and sensational controversies, while the role of the consumer is to sit back and watch the drama unfold.

This article from the New York Times addresses the emerging consequences of a popular online social platform, Yik Yak. This platform allows users to interact anonymously with other local users; however, anonymity is easily abused, and offensive comments, threats of mass violence, and cyberbullying are seen. Ethnic boundaries have been crossed, petitions have been signed to shut down Yik Yak.

So is it the venture capitalists and investors who finance the development of fresh ideas, or it is the innovators at fault?

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Cyberbullying shadows all social media platforms, Yik Yak is not the only culprit. Its developers have strategized to minimize the opportunities for offensive comments. However, completely shutting down the app does not address the latent problem at hand, it simply redirects offenders to another site. Therefore, it is neither individually the venture capitalists, the investors, nor the developers who are not wholly responsible for these ethical issues; consumers play a huge role.

The world of business is collaborative, everything is interconnected. Similarly, this theory applies: business ethics should be viewed not in isolation, but rather holistically; all stakeholders are influencers.

The responsibility does not lie solely on the shoulders of one party.

We are all responsible.